Tony Hayward makes his mark on BP

Ruthless cuts by the new boss have produced results in higher than expected profits

When Tony Hayward took over at BP two and a half years ago, he knew things were bad. He just didn't know how bad.

One of the first calls the new chief executive made was to Bain & Company. He wanted the consultancy to "hold up a mirror" to the oil giant so he could see exactly what he had inherited from Lord Browne of Madingley, his predecessor.

He was shocked by what he saw. "I was gobsmacked," he said last week from his corner office at the group's headquarters in St James's Square in London. "I told them I didn't want solutions. We would take care of that. I just wanted them to show us what we looked like. They said: 'You are the most complicated enterprise we have ever come across.' We were a very complex organisation with little clarity or accountability."